Nib and writing instrument construction with capillary action

ABSTRACT

A writing instrument nib consisting of an elongated tubular casing, a plurality of elongated, rigid writing members located within the casing, each of the members being generally fan-shaped and uniform in cross section longitudinally and having sidewalls terminating inwardly in an apex located in the vicinity of the center of the casing and outwardly in a curved wall generally complementary in configuration with respect to the casing and adjacent thereto, each of the members further including at least one longitudinally extending slit occupying part of the space between the apex and curved wall dividing the member into integrally connected portions, the surfaces of the curved wall, at least one of the sidewalls and the slit of each of the members being provided with a plurality of longitudinal grooves, the members being joined within the casing at three apexes while the sidewalls of the members are positioned adjacent each other, the space between adjacent sidewalls of the members and the slits of the members defining capillary passages extending longitudinally through the casing, portions of the members extending outwardly of the casing at one end thereof being sharpened as a point.

TJnited States Patent Kiriu et al.

1*Oct. 22, 1974 1 NIB AND WRITING INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCTION WITH CAPILLARY ACTION [76] Inventors: Yoshihito Kiriu, 13-4 Shinkoiwa 4-chome, Tokyo; Hiroshi Inoh, 1-4-3, Yakata, Kofu, both of Japan 4 Notice: The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to Feb. 29, 1990, has been disclaimed.

[22] Filed: Feb. 20, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 333,533

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 95,372, Dec. 4,

1970, Pat. No. 3,718,401.

[52] U.S. Cl. 401/292, 401/199 [51] Int. Cl A46b 11/00, 343k 1/02 [58] Field of Search 401/199, 292

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,424,539 l/l969 Jenkins 401/292 3,718,401 2/1973 Kirio 401/199 Primary Examiner-Lawrence Charles Attorney, Agent, or FirmStaas, Halsey & Gable 5 7] ABSTRACT A writing instrument nib consisting of an elongated tubular casing, a plurality of elongated, rigid writing members located within the casing, each of the members being generally fan-shaped and uniform in cross section longitudinally and having sidewalls terminating inwardly in an apex located in the vicinity of the center of the casing and outwardly in a curved wall generally complementary in configuration with respect to the casing and adjacent thereto, each of the members further including at least one longitudinally extending slit occupying part of the space between the apex and curved wall dividing the member into integrally connected portions, the surfaces of the curved wall, at least one of the sidewalls and the slit of each of the members being provided with a plurality of longitudinal grooves, the members being joined within the casing at three apexes while the sidewalls of the members are positioned adjacent each other, the space between adjacent sidewalls of the members and the slits of the members defining capillary passages extending longitudinally through the casing, portions of the members extending outwardly of the casing at one end thereof being sharpened as a point.

NIB AND WRITING INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCTION WITH CAPILLARY ACTION CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of US. application Ser. No. 95,372, filed Dec. '4, 1970, which issued Feb. 27, 1973 as US. Pat. No. 3,718,401.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to writing instruments and more particularly to nib and writing instrument constructions.

Nibs and writing instruments are known in which the nib is provided with a small central bore of different cross section configurations. The nibs in these writing instruments may be constructed as a single element or as a plurality of elements. Furthermore, writing instru ments are known in which capillarity is effected by the construction of the instrument.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a new and novel nib and writing instrument construction.

According to the present invention a plurality of elongated rod-like members having peripheral longitudinally extending grooves or corrugations are held in an assembled position within a tubular easing extending longitudinally thereof defining a plurality of capillary passageways through the tubular casing jointly and in conjunction with the casing.

The elongated elements are made of a suitable plastic, for example, a resin, and the casing is likewise plastic. The elongated elements are made with a generally circular, triangular or fan-shaped cross section with surfaces on the periphery thereof which coact with each other to define the capillary passageways. The outer casing is made with a smooth interior surface or likewise with longitudinally extending grooves or corrugations in the inner surfaces thereof which jointly with the elongated elements define capillary passageways.

The casing and elongated members held therein are sharpened at one end so that the assembly functions as a nib or writing instrument supplied with writing fluid from a writing fluid source.

Other features and advantages of the nib and writing instrument construction in accordance with the invention will be better understood as described in the speci fication and appended claims in conjunction with the drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevation view of a writing instrument or device partly in section according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section view taken along section line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2a is a fragmentary perspective view of an element within the assembly in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross section views of other writing instruments similar to that in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are cross section views of other embodiments of writing devices according to the invention;

FIGS. 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, 10a, and 11a are fragmentary perspective views illustrating the construction of the elements within the devices corresponding to FIGS. 8 11 respectively;

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the writing instrument nib of the present invention, this drawing attempting to illustrate the actual configuration of the nib as if magnified; and

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary side view partly in section 0 illustrating a writing device embodying the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT According to the drawings illustrating the invention a tubular casing 1 made of a suitable rigid plastic holds within it a plurality of elongated elements 2 which are triangular-shaped or fan-shaped in cross section and are held frictionally within the casing l in an assembled relationship extending axially of the casing l. The elements 2 are constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 2a and are provided with a flat side 2b and corrugated sides 20, 2d bearing on a corresponding smooth surface of a related element 2 or the inner periphery of the easing as illustrated and jointly defining therewith passageways which are small in cross section and are effective to carry out capillarity action. In order to use the assembled construction as a writing device and end 3 thereof is sharpened as illustrated in FIG. 1 so that the entire assembly can function as a nib in a writing instrument as hereinafter described with respect to FIG. 12. Furthermore, the assembled construction can be made sufficiently large in cross section so that the casing and elongated members therein can function as a writing instrument having at an end opposite the sharpened end a writing fluid source, not shown.

The elongated members can be made as illustrated in the other cross section drawings described hereinafter at length, for example in FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3 a plurality of elongated elements 4 are held in a casing S and are constructed similarly to those in FIG. 2, except that the ridges of the grooves come to a sharp point.

In FIG. 4 a plurality of elongated elements 6 had one side 6b flat and the other two sides 6c, 6d scalloped as illustrated in FIG. 4 jointly defining capillary passageways radiating from the axis thereof and define peripheral capillary passageways 8 jointly with smooth interior surfaces of a tubular casing 9 made of a suitable plastic or other suitable material.

In FIGS. 5 and 5a a casing 10 encloses a plurality of elongated elements 11 held in assembled relationship. Each of the elements 11 has a generally triangular cross section and a base side 11b corrugated or with longitudinal grooves thereon and a side 11c substantially flat with the opposite side 11d scalloped so that in an assembled relationship capillarity passageways are defined longitudinally of the assembly and peripherally of the elements between the base sides of the triangles and the interior surfaces of the casing .10.

In FIGS. 6 and 6a three'similar elongated elements 13 are disposed within a tubular casing 14. Each of the elements 13 has a generally fan shaped cross section and is made of two elongated substantially triangular portions 13a. 13b having peripheral outer sides 13c, 13d. 13f with longitudinal grooves thereon and a slit extending partially toward the apex Off the triangular portions and extending longitudinally of the elements having one side 16a flat and another side 16b grooved as illustrated defining capillarity passageways radiating outwardly from the axis of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 6 and extending longitudinally through the casing.

The elongated elements may likewise be constructed as tubular elements or rods extending longitudinally of a respective tubular casing as illustrated in FIGS. 7 10a inclusive. The elongated elements in these illustrations of the invention are substantially circular in cross section with the exception of those in FIG. 9 and are provided with peripheral longitudinal grooves extending longitudinally thereof. which cooperate with other grooves in the inner wall surfaces of the respective casings which are likewise tubular as heretofore described.

Elongated elements 17 are constructed as illustrated in FIG. 7 and held frictionally within a tubular casing 18. These elements may be provided with an axial bore 19 which can be made very small so that it functions as a capillary passageway or made of a dimension to allow filing with suitable fibers 20 as illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 10a. Likewise the central bore may be constructed as a cross 23 as illustrated in FIG. 8.

The elongated elements may likewise be constructed with their own particular cross section, for example a cross shape, as illustrated in FIG. 9 in which the elements 25 are held within a plastic tubular casing 26 which has interior longitudinally extending grooves as illustrated and the cross shaped elements 25 jointly define therebetween and jointly with the casing longitudinal passageways each functioning as a capillary passageway.

The elongated elements may likewise be assembled in a dove-tail-like construction as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 11a in which an element 28 dove-tails with an elongated element 29. Projections 28a, 29a on both of the two elements extend into corresponding deep grooves on the other elements as illustrated in the drawing. These grooves are defined by flat sides and corrugated sides on the projections so that longitudinally extending capillarity passageways are defined therebetween and the outer surfaces 28b, 29b are corrugated or grooved longitudinally of these elements so that peripherally angularly spaced passageways are formed circumferentially of the assembled or elongated members and in conjunction with and within a tubular casing 30.

The elongated elements may also be assembled as illustrated in the preferred embodiment of FIG. 13 wherein each of fan-shaped elements 44 is provided with a longitudinally extending slit 46 extending outwardly from the apex of each element 44. The surfaces ofthe curved walls 44a at least one of the sidewalls 44b and the slit 46 of each of the elements 44 are provided with longitudinal grooves, as illustrated by the ragged lines, such that the space between the adjacent walls, as well as the space between the curved walls 44a and the elongated tubular casing 48, define capillary passages extending longitudinally through the nib.

The invention is particularly applicable to constructing writing instruments with the elements assembled as above-described and is particularly applicable to the construction of part of a writing instrument, for example a nib. A writing instrument provided with a nib according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 12 in which a writing or marking device 35 is illustrated fragmentarily and comprises a tubular body 37 made of plastic material within which is contained a writing fluid source 38, for example an absorbent pad of fibers made in known manner. A nib 40 is held in a nib holder 43 and extends outwardly of the writing instrument body 37 and into the fluid or writing fluid supply 39.

The nib 40 is constructed in the manner heretofore described and consists of a plurality of elements held assembled in a tubular casing 40a. An end 40b is sharpened for writing and an opposite end 400 is likewise tapered to expose the inner elongated elements to the supply of fluid for capillary movement of the fluid along the nib. The nib is constructed according to one of the constructions described and illustrated in the preceding drawings.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described it will be understood that many modifications and changes can be made within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A writing instrument nib, comprising an elongated tubular casing, a plurality of elongated rigid writing members located 'within said casing, each of said members being generally fan-shaped and uniform in cross section longitudinally and having sidewalls terminating inwardly in an apex located in the vicinity of the center of said casing and outwardly in a curved wall generally complementary in configuration with respect to said casing and adjacent thereto, each of said members further including at least one longitudinally extending slit extending from said apex radially outwardly to a position just inwardly of said curved wall dividing said members into integrally connected portions, the surfaces of said curved wall, at least one of said sidewalls and the walls defining said slit of each of said members being provided with a plurality of longitudinal grooves, the depth of said grooves varying, said members being joined within said casing at their apexes while said sidewalls of said members are positioned adjacent each other, the space between said casing and said outer curved walls of said members, the space between adjacent sidewalls of said members and said slits of said members defining capillary passages extending longitudinally through said casing, said slits being in communication with the spaces between said adjacent sidewalls in the area adjacent said apexes, portions of said members extending outwardly of said casing at one end thereof being sharpened as a point. 

1. A writing instrument nib, comprising an elongated tubular casing, a plurality of elongated rigid writing members located within said casing, each of said members being generally fanshaped and uniform in cross section longitudinally and having sidewalls terminating inwardly in an apex located in the vicinity of the center of said casing and outwardly in a curved wall generally complementary in configuration with respect to said casing and adjacent thereto, each of said members further including at least one longitudinally extending slit extending from said apex radially outwardly to a position just inwardly of said curved wall dividing said members into integrally connected portions, the surfaces of said curved wall, at least one of said sidewalls and the walls defining said slit of each of said members being provided with a plurality of longitudinal grooves, the depth of said grooves varying, said members being joined within said casing at their apexes while said sidewalls of said members are positioned adjacent each other, the space between said casing and said outer curved walls of said members, the space between adjacent sidewalls of said members and said slits of said members defining capillary passages extending longitudinally through said casing, said slits being in communication with the spaces between said adjacent sidewalls in the area adjacent said apexes, portions of said members extending outwardly of said casing at one end thereof being sharpened as a point. 